My little workers!

Samantha and Hunter shoveling the driveway. They did a great job. Sam told me this was her job now, and she was going to do this all day. Since Tucker is supposed to rest and stay calm, Sam and Hunter have been glued to each other. They are having a lot of fun playing together.

Drainspout

I am so intrigued by this Drainspot. Instead of the traditional kind, all of the newer houses around here have a chain downspot in front of their houses. I love it actually. Not sure why, but it is really cool to watch. When it is raining - it sounds just like a waterfall, and when it is below freezing - it is so beautiful to look at the frozen ice. Here are a few pictures. I know, call me crazy, but I just love the simplicity of this thing.

Snow....Snow......Finally!

Today we received about an inch of snow. It is the most so far this winter. Everything looked so beautiful. Here are a few pictures of the back and front of the house.

Little Girls and Makeup

Grandma S sent Samantha a Makeup kit. What a perfect gift. Thank you Grandma S. Samantha loves it so much. Look at this little princess applying her makeup. However, now she thinks that she needs to wear makeup everyday, and she wants to put it on all by herself. I love this girl!!!

Sam as the Island Princess

Sam got this dress from Santa. It is the Dress Barbie wears in the Island Princess Movie. So adorable.

More Christmas Pictures

Christmas Morning Pictures

I didn't get that many pictures. Tucker was having a hard time with the Chaos of opening presents. But here is a few just for fun.

Us

Brad and I at his parents on Sunday (12/23) Somehow I failed to get a family picture of us all.

We love our Cousins so............much!

It was great to see all of you and to surprise you! We love you and miss you very much!

Guess Where we are going?

Yes, it was off to Bellingham for a quick 2 1/2 day visit. We decided at the very last minute(Wednesday night - 12/19) to head to Bellingham for the weekend before Christmas. Brad needed to be at a meeting in Ferndale with Andgar on Friday, so off we went. We left Friday AM bright and early. The kids were so incredibly excited to be going "Home". So was I. So, for all of my dearest friends reading this right now and thinking, wow - she didn't call me, I am sorry, but 2 1/2 days is not a lot of time, and especially with it being Christmas. I wish I would have had more time to see everyone who means the world to me, but I just couldn't. We spent Friday afternoon with the T family and Friday Evening with the M Family. On Saturday, we spent a good part of the day visiting our old neighborhood and meeting up with our renters, and of course, we made a stop at Grandma Haggen's :o) for our favorite Chinese food. And did a little last minute shopping. On Sunday, we spent the day with Brad's family, as they were celebrating Christmas this day.

We loved coming "Home". It was also so fun because Brad's family did not know we were coming since it was the very last minute, so you can imagine how shocked, overjoyed, and very much surprised they were when we pulled up in their driveway. I can still here Auntie P's screams of joy when she first found out we were there and saw us for the first time. :o)

Anyway - it was a great morale booster, and a great since of closure for my kids. It is interesting to see them since we have been back in Idaho. (Which is Home now) They are very calm, and there hasn't been any mention of wanting to go back to Bellingham. I am sure it will come, but usually a few times a week I am hearing about it. I think mostly for Tucker, it was the missing piece to the puzzle. He has seemed unsettled and confused about Idaho, so to go to his "old Blue House" and not see his things in it, but someone elses, might be just what he needed. By Sunday night, he was asking to "go home." This was very comforting for me.

Here are some pictures of the kids on the airplane - it was the Twins first plane ride. My kids are awesome. They did so good. No bickering, no complaining and the best behavior. We even flew into Bellingham, so that meant two planes and a long layover. They were just the best both ways.

And again, I am sorry I did not get to see everyone I so badly would have loved to on this short trip, but our next trip to Bellingham will hopefully be planned, with much more time, and a lot more time for visiting friends.

Oh, and I am having trouble with my camera these days - not sure why they are so blurry.

After Surgery

Surgery went great! Tucker was such a brave boy. No tears or crying until he was back in my arms. All the nurses and the Dr. commented on how good he was. I am so proud of him and also glad that it is over with. I didn't realize how anxious I was about until we left the Surgery Center to come home. While he was under they also cleaned out his ears and found out that he has a perforated eardrum in his left ear. This is apparently from having multiple tubes put in - we've only had 3 sets. It is possible when they took the tube out in September that this happened but we are not sure. Not to happy to hear this, as now Tucker will have a 40% hearing loss for the rest of his life in this ear, and if it does not close on his own, then he will have to have it repaired surgically in a couple of years. Ugh!!!!!! Anyway, we were shocked to hear this, but also we are not too worried about it. He could have many other problems that come with the Down syndrome, so this bit of news seems minor in the bigger picture. Here are a couple of pictures of Tucker when we came home today. He really wanted to play at first, but after getting comfy, sleep took over.

Tucker's Surgery

Hello All! Just wanted to post a quick note to let you know that Tucker will be having surgery tomorrow AM. (12/28/07) He is having his Adenoids and Tonsils taken out. We had his Pre-Op appointment this AM. He is much more aware of things, so please say prayers he stays calm and all goes well. I am a bit anxious. He is usually a trooper when it comes to his blood draws, but today, that was not the case. I had to wrap myself around him to keep him still, and as soon as he saw the needle coming to his arm, he started crying and saying - "Not want it". Bless his heart, I wanted to cry too! Anyway, say lots of prayers for easy recovery and no problems with the surgery. Love to you all. I will post XMAS pictures hopefully later tonight or tomorrow afternoon.

After the show - photo op

Can we go home now?

This picture is after I had to take him off the stage for a small break. He did rejoin the school for the ending.

Tucker has had enough

Time to unplug the speakers and be taken off the stage.

More of the performance

Watch Tucker - he decided to play the Guitar for this song. He had the crowd laughing and all heads were turning to look at us. What a Ham!

Singing

You can hear Sam above the other kids. She sang her heart out!

When is this show going to begin

Look at the attitudes - Sam looks as if she is saying - okay come on already - I am ready to perform, and Tucker just the opposite! I'm thinking Hunter might be thinking - Why do I have to do this. They are all so cute.

School Christmas Program

The kids had their School Christmas Program last night and they all did so great! It was a cute program. Above are pictures and videos of the highlights.

Hunter's Habitat Project

Hunter just finished his Animal Habitat project for Science. He loved doing this and Daddy had a good time too! :o) Hunter was so proud he asked me to post these pictures on the Blog so everyone could see it. Actually, I think it is the best in the class - but of course I would, I'm the Mom.

Putting up the Tree

The tree is up and we are getting ready to celebrate Christmas in our new Home. The tree was put up last week actually, but I am just now getting to updating the blog. We hope you are happy and rejoicing in this beautiful season. The kids had a great time decorating the tree - either they are getting better at it or I am getting more relaxed about it. This year I didn't have to move ALL the ornaments around after they put them on the tree, only a few. And, they aren't even perfectly placed and I still love it! The kids are catching on you see. Hunter must have asked me more than 10 times if an ornament looked good where he chose, saying "Because if it doesn't I know you'll move it after I go to bed." Gotta love these Smart kids!